The information on web pages is in the form of programmed source code that the browser interprets to determine what to display on the requesting device. The source code may include document formats, objects, parameters, positioning instructions, and other code that is defined in one or more web programming or markup languages. One web programming language is HyperText Markup Language (“HTML”), and all web pages use it to some extent. HTML uses text indicators called tags to provide interpretation instructions to the browser. The tags specify the composition of design elements such as text, images, shapes, hyperlinks to other web pages, programming objects such as JAVA applets and JavaScript resource calls, form fields, tables, and other elements. The web page can be formatted for proper display on computer systems with widely varying display parameters, due to differences in screen size, resolution, processing power, and maximum download speeds.
For Internet users and businesses alike, the Internet continues to be increasingly valuable. Individuals and businesses depend on their online presences, particularly their websites, to deliver current and useful information to customers, readers, and other Internet users. However, website design remains a difficult skill to learn and apply effectively. Web page editors exist for helping non-programmers edit their websites using what is known as a what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) interface that renders the web page source code to a display and provides editing tools for adding and modifying web page elements. It would be advantageous to provide such as WYSIWYG interface that operates on the actual website code as it is rendered in a browser, so a user can be sure that what is being edited is what will be displayed to a website visitor.
Customers frequently use Internet search engines, such as GOOGLE, BING, YAHOO, or BAIDU, to find businesses that provide the goods or services sought. The customer enters keywords relevant to the goods or services into the search engine and receive search engine results pages (SERPs) displaying websites or web pages in order of relevance to the entered keywords. In order to attract customers online, a business benefits from its website placing highly on SERPs for keywords that are relevant to its business. To improve its placement, a business may engage in search engine optimization (SEO) of its website. SEO may include modifying the code of web pages in the business's website to include strategically selected keywords in particular parts of the web pages. However, due to the volume of businesses having an Internet presence, a business may have difficulty identifying and implementing the most effective keywords for improving its SERP placement.
Some Internet users, typically those that are larger and more sophisticated, may provide their own hardware, software, and connections to the Internet. But many Internet users either do not have the resources available or do not want to create and maintain the infrastructure necessary to host their own websites. To assist such individuals (or entities), hosting companies exist that offer website hosting services. These hosting service providers typically provide the hardware, software, and electronic communication means necessary to connect multiple websites to the Internet. A single hosting service provider may literally host thousands of websites on one or more hosting servers. There are many hosting service providers, and a novice website owner may find it difficult to access and manipulate his website through the hosting service provider's resources. It would be advantageous for a WYSIWYG editing interface to be able to create website modifications for any website, regardless of its hosting service provider.